


A War Time Lesson

by Merfilly



Series: Padawan Plight [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Crushes, Gen, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 03:12:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8694112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: A campaign brings the Padawans together, one where they share a battle with their own men, away from the Masters. It has an effect on Barriss.





	

Barriss tried to contain the tangle of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her as she looked toward the drop ship coming down, as the 501 st was coming in to support them. Would _she_ be with them?

Luminara carefully did not say anything about the mounting tension in her padawan. They had made great strides in finding a true partnership since the therapy sessions, but she knew if she commented on the emotional cacophony Barriss was trying to mute, it would cause the younger woman to shut down completely. That was not a risk Luminara was prepared to take over what she believed was a simple teen-aged crush. Her padawan was late to such events, but better to get it out of her system with another Jedi than with one of the men.

Luminara didn't even mean that last in a negative way; her concern about Barriss noticing any of the love-struck Vod'e that endeavored to protect her these days was that the Vod'e themselves would be as much at a loss as Barriss on how to handle the pitfalls of potential Attachment. Ahsoka Tano, at least, had the same lectures and reasons to be careful as Barriss did.

The elder Mirialan actually saw the other padawan before Barriss, because of the difference in where they were standing. The younger girl disembarked, not from the one with Skywalker, but the second one, and Luminara's eyes caught the small orange decals affixed to every man's shoulder that came off with her. It was surprising, but then, Skywalker had said they would be able to pull a pincer maneuver as soon as the 501st got there. Apparently, the third commander on the ground would be his padawan. 

Luminara was aware of when Barriss saw Ahsoka without even looking. She was growing steadily more accustomed to the brief bursts of actual contact between them in the training bond, and found she truly treasured them. For all her lectures at Anakin Skywalker over attachment to his padawan, she was falling into the one growing with Barriss rather quickly, now that her padawan was opening up.

"Ahh, master Luminara," Anakin said as he joined the pair of women. Barriss gave him a polite nod, managing to not crane her neck for sight of Ahsoka.

"It is good to see you so swiftly, master Skywalker," Luminara said. "I take it from your padawan's separate arrival that you have a plan for how to make this work with her holding part of the troops?"

"I do, if you don't mind letting your Padawan and a squad of your own men work with her," Anakin said with confidence, turning slightly as Ahsoka reached them. "Took you long enough."

"Hops got sick on the way down; had to make sure he was okay," Ahsoka said. "Think it's just nerves, but I told him to have Kix check him for that inner-ear thing that cropped up in the batch that went to General Secura." Even as she was speaking, she was looking at Barriss, and the older padawan wound up dropping her eyes briefly, to bring her emotions in check.

"I had not heard about this?" Luminara said.

"Undetected inner-ear problems in a couple of new batches of younger soldiers," Anakin said. "The trainees aren't getting as much training in motion exercises. A simple patch seems to clear it up for them," he added. "Hops recently joined us… what is he doing in your men, Snips? I thought I said no shinies for yours."

"You also said I needed a full three squads, and that meant taking at least one shiny, given how many are still in medical?" she retorted. "I can keep him safe, Master."

"Alright." He made a 'lead-on' gesture to Luminara, and they moved ahead of the padawans, who fell in step with one another. Ahsoka's knuckles brushed the back of Barriss's hand, and the elder padawan glanced over. They shared a smile, before they both focused on duty.

+++

"I noticed you seem to be getting along easier with your men," Ahsoka said, as the pair of padawans kept watch for the signal to move their hidden assets.

"I took to heart what you said, Ahsoka, that we will at least try to protect them as we navigate the trap we are in," Barriss told her. "I spoke with my master, and we shuffled the squadrons, so I have the more support-oriented men."

"Which works for us now, since we're going to serve as artillery at long range," Ahsoka said, "and recovery detail." She glance back, saw Kix was getting things squared away with Barriss's medic. Anakin had traded Kix in for Hops, not wanting to leave her with any non-veterans, even if they were going to be handling the long-range strike of the operation.

They got quiet, waiting for the signal, until Ahsoka suddenly tensed and turned in the the protected position they were in.

"Kriff!" she hissed before snapping orders for the men to change out to small arms, her lightsaber in her hands in the next moment, and Barriss had to follow suit. A moment later, there was a cacophony of noise and flares of blaster fire as their emplacement was all but overrun by a company of commando droids and B2s from what they had thought was a cleared canyon. 

For a moment, Barriss had been terrified that they would fall. She compared the numbers facing them to the number of men at their backs, and just knew they were going to fail, maybe to be killed, or possibly to be prisoners. Then she steadied and Barriss began to fight to the best of her ability, her mind only partially taking in that Ahsoka had snapped into full command. The younger padawan was ordering both her 501st and Barriss's 41st with ease. She even ordered Barriss to move and handle an approach without hesitating, showing a natural aptitude for it that was uncanny.

In the end, the small detachment, four squads total, didn't have a single uninjured member, but there were no droids left either. The dead were, unfortunately, being left in place, as Ahsoka pushed their men back to the heavy artillery, her eyes and montrals alert for further attacks, waiting for the signal… and moments after the fight had ended, they were providing support to the two main bodies of troops, just as planned, though with fewer guns due to lack of manpower. 

And then Barriss saw something she would never forget, as Ahsoka's eyes closed, trusting the other padawan to guard her, and she used the Force to manipulate the silent guns, adding their battery to the support they had been tasked with. Barriss felt awe, even as she kept alert for further attacks, and knew the men around them were, again, looking up to Ahsoka as a true leader and warrior.

When the call came by comm to cease fire, Ahsoka sagged, and Barriss was right there, holding her up, despite the eyes that could see them.

"Our men," Ahsoka said weakly, having pushed herself far harder than she should have.

"I'll see to their care, Ahsoka. Rest now." Barriss gave her a gentle smile, then helped her down to a protected spot. She took in that Kix was waiting for orders, and started issuing them, with an eye to helping the living first.

+++

When Ahsoka woke, she was in her own shelter and Barriss was in there with her. She gave a small smile, and pushed to sit up, bringing her feet to the side of the cot.

"Your master said you should probably take it easy," Barriss said. "Mine said I could sit with you, to help you do that, since things are currently quiet."

Ahsoka grinned at that, and looked over at her friend. "I'd love to spend time with you, but I have to go see my squads, the ones that made it," she said. That brought Barriss to her feet, and over to her side, offering her a hand up. It surprised Ahsoka, but she accepted it. "You know I didn't take any hits, right?"

"Actually, you did," Barriss told her, pointing down. Ahsoka glanced downward, and noticed that she was wearing a bandage on her midriff, and another through a neatly cut hole in her leggings.

"Oh." Her nose crinkled. "I didn't notice it at least?"

"Ahsoka!"

The younger padawan felt a rush that was completely un-Jedi at being fussed over and at by Barriss. She was very thankful Barriss didn't read lekku very well. "Let's go see the men, and then I promise I'll take it easy."

Knowing she was wounded did make the leg throb a little, but she was too buoyed by Barriss's care toward her, and the fact the elder girl was staying close, to assist her if needed. Ahsoka very carefully didn't lean into that, not wanting to take advantage when she _knew_ Barriss was still coming to terms with the emotions they were exploring, slowly, in this friendship of theirs.

"Snips!"

Anakin's voice ringing out did a lot to dampen the brightness of her lekku, but she pasted on her stubborn face and looked at where he had apparently been discussing the situation with the other master and the officers.

"Just going to see about the boys!"

Anakin frowned, but he couldn't very well say 'no' to that, not when they both knew what it would mean to the survivors. "Alright, and you can stay there. We're evacuating the wounded back to the ships, and I want you on that transport."

Disappointment blossomed deep in her soul, but if she argued, it would make a bigger stink than she felt like dealing with. "Yes, Master," she said in a more subdued tone.

He turned back to his discussion, and the pair of padawans made their way across to the aid station, with Ahsoka feeling like it really wasn't fair.

"He's looking out for you," Barriss said, but her voice was subdued.

"I know. I just… I was really looking forward to getting to spend time with you, even if it was on campaign."

There was a long silence, before Ahsoka brushed the back of her hand along Barriss's, seeking some kind of reassurance she had not stepped over a line.

Barriss turned her hand, catching Ahsoka's for the briefest instant with a squeeze, before letting it go. "We will see each other again, Ahsoka," she said, a fervent promise in her voice. "I will feel better, though, knowing you are on the ship, aiding from there, instead of risking further injury."

Ahsoka could not help but smile shyly, and it stayed with her all the way into the aid station.

+++

Barriss watched the droids marching in, saw death threatening all around. She would not see all of her men (and those of Ahsoka's, left to her command for defending this point by Skywalker) survive this. However, she knew that the more she fought, the better she trusted in them to have faith in her, the more likely it would be to save more of them than she normally believed possible.

It was a lesson she had watched Ahsoka prove, with her unwillingness to back away, to stop for anything less than unconsciousness, and Barriss wished to emulate her.

"Are we ready, Dagger?" she asked the lieutenant at her side, judging how close they had allowed the droids to get.

"Let them pass three more meters with their front-line, is my suggestion, Commander."

"Then three more meters it is, and then call for fire," she told him, hands on the hilt of her lightsaber.

Dagger, having maneuvered to be in charge of the squadron that General Luminara assigned to the Padawan-Commander, smiled inside his helmet. Their Commander had come home to them as a changed woman, and she was steadily improving her ability to both lead and listen.

Barriss could feel, faintly, his approval of her, and almost flushed, but she was still Jedi enough to control it. She amended that in her thoughts; Ahsoka never failed to break her control.

That thought had to be shoved deep inside her mind and soul, as Dagger called down fire from the cannons, and the battle was on. She was needed, to protect the men she could. That idea had changed so much, as she found the concept of helping far easier to stomach than the destruction the war was leaving everywhere.

She couldn't end the war so, like Ahsoka, she needed to keep as many alive as she could.


End file.
